Tooth-brush holder.



A. L. KANE & J. J. ONEIL. 100m BRUSH HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25. I915.

awed 1M3 Patented Jan. 16, 1917,

A Z; frame, {if N l ARTHUR L. KANE AND'JOHNJS omainor NEWPORT, RHODE'ISLAND.

. TOOTH-BRUSH HoLDER.

Specification-Letters Patent. Patented J 3, 16, 1917,

Application filed Januar 2351915; Serial No. 4,337.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ART UR L. KANE and JOHN J. ONEIL, citizens of the United States, residing at Newport, in the county of Newport and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tooth-Brush Holders, and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I

This invention relates to tooth brush holders, .and one of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a device of simple construction for holding a tooth brush and for inclosing the bristles to keep the brush in a sanitary condition in a manner to prevent access of germs to the bristles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tooth brush holder of simple construction which can be readily removed from a wall or other support for cleaning or for sterilizing, said holder comprising a box or casing having a spring door for closing the same, said casing adapted to contain the head portion or bristles of the brush and to exclude germs and to keep brush in a sanitary and healthful condition at all times.

The foregoing .and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tooth brush holder made in accordance with this invention, and secured to a base or flat plate and removable therefrom, Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a base on which the holder may be secured, but it will be understood that the sanitary tooth brush holder may be se cured directly to a wall, or any suitable support in a bath room or wherever the tooth brush is to be used. The holder consists of a flat flexible strip of sheet metal 2. Formed on or secured to the shank portion 2 of the holder is a box or casing 3, of sufiicient size to hold the head of a tooth brush of any suitable construction. A self closing or spring actuated door 4 is hinged on a pin 5 mounted in lugs 6 projecting from the front side 7 of the casing, and said pin projecting through ears 8 formed on the side of the door 4-. A spring 9 surrounds the pin andthe tension of the spring is exerted to hold the door 4 closed. The door has a rectangular or curved opening 10 therein to accommodate the handle member of the tooth brush, while at the opposite end of the door is a finger piece 11 which projects outward to hold the door open when the tooth brush is to be replaced in the casing.

Key hole slots 12 may be formed in the front portion 2 at the top and bottom thereof so that the screws or nails 13 driven into the wall or other support'may be utilized for permitting the holder to be connected thereto and disconnected therefrom when it is desired to sterilize or cleanse the holder. The portion 2 of the holder is sufliciently flexible so that the'same may be quickly and readily bowed to conform to the curvature of the handle of a tooth brush in order to render the device available to various forms of tooth brush handles; it can be readily seen that it is merely necessary to force the central portion outwardly so that the portion 2 may readily conform to the configuration of the handle when in use.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that a sanitary tooth brush holder made in accordance with this invention is comparatively cheap to manufacture, is efficient-for its purpose and can be readily removed for cleaning whenever desired.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in'the claim.

' What is claimed is a A tooth brush holder comprising a base, a shank formed of flexible sheet metal and adapted to be bowed outwardly to conform to the curvature of various tooth brush handles of different forms, a casing connected to said shank, and a spring actuated door for said casing having .an aperture therein to accommodate the handle of the tooth brush, and a finger hold on the opposite end to operate said door, said door having lugs formed thereon, and a pin extending through said lugs and through the lugs formed on the casing, and spring encircling In testimony whereof We afliX our signasaid pin for normally holding the door' tures in presence of two Witnesses.

closed, said Shank having/key hole slots in v 1 its upper and 16Wer" ends for rern0vab1y-se curing the same to the base, and permitting I the samejto be readily bowed outwardly t0 conform to the curvature of tooth brush handles of difierent forms.

Witnesses JAMES J. HIOKEY, HUGH 'J. MURPHY.

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